Chicks in Tank Tops

by Jason Córdova

THE CHICKS ARE BACK! CELEBRATING FEARLESS AND FEARSOME FEMALES WITH ALL-NEW STORIES. Featuring all-new stories inspired by the classic Chicks in Chainmail series! A boy and his dog. A girl and her tank. Tropes have been with us throughout all of history. Any girl would gladly trade in her skimpy armor for a tank. While a little bit of chainmail can take a chick far, heavy armor can take one even farther. Besides, what’s not to love about chicks in tank tops? From pure near-future military science fiction to Pride and Prejudice with zombies, AI tanks, and true love! All-new stories by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, David Drake, Jody Lynn Nye, Kevin Ikenberry, Esther Friesner, Joelle Presby, Robert E. Hampson, A.C. Haskins, Lydia Sherrer & David Sherrer, G. Scott Huggins, Philip Wohlrab, Marisa Wolf, and Jason Cordova & Ashley Prior. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Jason Cordova is both a John W. Campbell Award and Dragon Award finalist. Besides editing his first anthology in Chicks in Tank Tops, he is also coauthoring Monster Hunter Fever with Larry Correia, coming soon from Baen Books. He has 15 novels currently in print and has been featured in numerous anthologies. A Navy veteran, he is also a former middle school teacher. Though Californian by birth, he has since relocated to the South, where he swears at the humidity on a thrice-daily basis.

Genres: Anthologies, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Humor, Fantasy

372 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 3, 2023

About the author

Bestselling author Jason Cordova is both a John W. Campbell Award and Dragon Award finalist (though not in the same year). He is the author of Mountain of Fire and Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever (w/ Larry Correia), and editor of Chicks in Tank Tops and Dancing with Destruction.

Along the way, he has had novels published in multiple languages around the world, been featured in over 40 anthologies, and has penned over two dozen novels across many genres, including YA, horror, science fiction, and urban fantasy.

A history nerd, he is a Navy veteran, former teacher, and is currently an Associate Editor at Baen Books.

Reviews

[Oliver Bogert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of female-led science fiction and machine mech/tank stories. Many of these would have been perfect to be adapted into Love, Death, + Robots on Netflix.

Loved Lydia's Sherrer's Operation Dad Liberation story. Just a couple thousand words and she will have you cheering for people and machines you just met to complete their rescue mission. If you like the "Tank" movie from back in the 80's with James Garner, this one will bring all those memories back.

Joelle Presby's "Barbie and Gator Ken vs the Hurricane" spoke to my Emergency Manager's heart and had me wondering if I could fit tanks into my discretionary budget at work. Never going to happen, but at least I can imagine how much fun that would be with this story.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired by the Chicks in Chainmail Anthologies, this is a great collection of female themed short stories. Best of all, the Editor's stated requirement of "give me a brave strong girl and her tank" was met in every story. I bought the book primarily for the Liaden story (which, as usual, explored a dusty corner of that Universe) and David Drake's last written/published work, but there were several other excellent entries of note. "Hold the Line" and "Goddess of War" were traditional military sci-fi and very emotionally charged. I loved Wohlrab's gloriously graphic "Between a Knight and a Hard Place" which pitted a Tank Brigade of Nuns against brutal sacrificing (Aztec like?) pagans!! Marissa Wolf's "Next Question" propelled her full novel with those characters to the top of my TBR pile. I enjoyed almost all of the stories and I hope BAEN turns this into a series.

[Cynthia Armistead · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish this one, putting it down about halfway through. I couldn't find it in myself to care about most of the characters, and the conceit for this particular anthology doesn't allow as wide a range of stories as in earlier "Chicks" volumes. I enjoyed Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's entry, "Gadreel's Folly," but I'd read their grocery lists, so that isn't surprising.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-boot of sorts of the Chicks in Chainmail series. Jason Cordova, withe the blessing and cooperation of Esther Friesner, has gathered a a diverse group of authors to write stories that involve tanks and strong female characters. Some of the stories are funny, so m are crazy, and some are just weird. Some of the weirdest include a recasting of Beauty and the Beast & Pride and Prejudice. Then their is the teenager off to rescue her father from prison by hijacking a tank. If you enjoyed the Chicks in Chainmail series, pick up a copy of this book and enjoy!

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult collection of stories to give a rating for. Some are very good, others I wanted to give zero stars. Some are science fiction, some are fantasy, one just seemed to be a war story that was neither science fiction or fantasy. Some are humorous, others are grim. One had a woman wearing a tank top while driving a tank, another I couldn't identify a tank anywhere in the story. Very mixed bag.

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

CHICKS IN TANK TOPS edited by Jason Cordova is very entertaining. I rarely enjoy anthologies but bought it primarily for the short story by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller - who did not disappoint with their superb “Gadreel’s Folly!” I also enjoyed Esther Friesner’s tongue-in-cheek “Tread Softly,” and I laughed out loud at “A Modest Foreword (or, Mistakes Were Made) also by Esther Friesner.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had some good stories, but overall it was repetitive. The theme was women driving tanks.

My favorites were the most comic: "Barbie and Gator Ken vs the Hurricane" and Esther Friesner's re-telling of Pride and Prejudice. Also the re-telling of Beauty and the Beast (movie) where Belle builds a tank.

[Libby Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection. Captivating, runs the gamut from deep to lighthearted. Had me laughing and then next one had me rooting for the downtrodden and wanting to throttle the bad guys. All in all, a fantastic read, and a great selection of authors, both well-known and newer.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Chicks are always fun. My favorites were Airborne (Drake), Goddess of War (Haskins), Barbie and Gator Ken (Presby), Jeanne d’Architonnerre (Huggins), Operation Dad Liberation (Sherrer), and Next Question (Wolf).

[Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning tribute to Harry Harrison and The Retief books.

Good mostly funny and clever writing about young women who succeed over all trials and tribulations. I will be reading the rest of the CHICKS books.

[John Boyda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read, some good, some just okay, and none terrible. Most were hard science fiction but a couple bordered on fantasy which is not my cup of tea. All in all, this collection was a pleasant way to while away a few hours. Enjoy!

[Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

so fun

All the Chicks in (-) are both funny and entertaining. This example stands as a prime example of that. I have enjoyed every single Chicks book I’ve found and look forward to more being published

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the older fantasy ones better but these were fine. If you like military sci-fi which isn’t my favorite sub genre you will probably like it better than I did.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful collection of short stories about women and their tanks. Many are humorous takes on past novels or fairy tales, which I also enjoy.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some pretty awesome stories about women in tanks. As always seems to be the case with short story collections, some were better suited to my reading preferences than others, but overall a good read.

[Adam Goss · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a difficult review to write. See, back in the late 1990s, I got turned on to fantasy when friends recommended to me the first Chicks in Chainmail anthology. Before that, fantasy always seemed to be full of nothing but war and monsters and dense epic lore and a total sausage fest. Chicks in Chainmail introduced me to the idea that fantasy literature could be funny, even bawdy. And once I had devoured the C-in-C books that were out at the time, I gave more serious fantasy a try, particularly the Sword & Sorceress anthology series - I liked tales with women protagonists - and that led me to discovering Mercedes Lackey, JRR Tolkien, Naomi Novik, Barbara Hambly and others. But I still mostly prefer funny fantasy and science fiction - any author who makes me laugh has my attention.

When I heard that Chicks in Tank Tops going to be published, I was both excited and skeptical. I loved all the Chicks in Chainmail books, and while I have little interest in military SF (the Honor Harrington books being a notable exception, because I love the character and I value character and dialogue way, WAY more than battles), I was willing to give it a chance.

This book is SUCH a disappointment. Of the 14 stories in it, only THREE made me laugh - one by Esther Friesner herself (who also wrote a hilarious Forward), one by official editor Jason Cordova (Friesner didn't edit this anthology), and one by Lydia & David Sherrer. There were two other stories that were mildly amusing, not enough to make me really laugh (Jody Lynn Nye wrote one, and David Drake wrote another, plus a shorter sequel printed right after it that, really, didn't feel needed, so technically three mildly amusing stories). As for the rest?

The majority of the authors DID NOT READ THE ASSIGNMENT. The Chicks in Chainmail books were overwhelmingly funny. You might get one, maybe two serious stories in each of the books, but that was it. Every one of those other stories in this book were told as straight, serious military SF, and I couldn't give a rat's ass about them. Even if they were well-written and well-structured as serious stories, this is not what this book should have been full of. And despite enjoying the three that made me laugh out loud, I'm kind of angry about this.

These stories about women driving tanks in military sf tales were supposed to be FUNNY. HUMOROUS. TONGUE-IN-CHEEK. Not because the premise deserves to be poked fun at, like the original C-in-C did (as much as I love characters like Red Sonja, she IS running around in a metal bikini - sexy but hardly practical or defensive), but you can tell funny stories about just about anything. And the majority of the authors in this book DIDN'T. This is one of those books that almost ranks as one that I wouldn't bother keeping, and as an oversize paperback book costing $18.00??!! I feel ripped off. The three good stories are all that's keeping me from rating this only one star. Worse, the back cover has quotes from Booklist, Locus and Realms of Fantasy, all praising how great the book is, and, in the case of Booklist and Locus, how funny it is. What drugs are THEY on???!!!

Shame on those authors for failing and shame on editor Jason Cordova for ACCEPTING those stories after he himself touted the whole book as a funny continuation of the original Chicks series. Incidentally, Cordova apparently has connections with Larry Correia, the author responsible for the "Sad Puppies" bullshit designed to mess with the Hugo Awards because he felt unappreciated, so I guess I'm never trusting Cordova ever again. I honestly HOPE there will NOT be another Chicks book under his control. The series deserves better, as does its readers.